China Industrial Policy at Work in Lingerie Themed Town女性內衣主題小鎮折射中國產業政策

吳佳柏 賈一真

Chinese “feature towns” focus on a single industry， including drones and chocolate.中國“特色小鎮”著眼單一產業，如無人機、巧克力等。

On a freshly paved street in a Chinese rural county， a few doors down from a dog-meat restaurant， Midnight Charm Clothing produces transparent chemises and “erotic” outfits.

A decade ago Dongwangji， a town in China’s eastern Jiangsu province， was mostly rice fields. Today it is the heartland for Chinese production of lingerie.

Local officials are actively supporting Midnight Charm and 600 other lingerie producers as part of an initiative to develop “feature towns” that focus on specific industries.

The initiative illustrates President Xi Jinping’s vision of a government-guided market economy where the government channels private investment into favoured sectors， in addition to controlling the largest companies through state ownership.

Industries should be chosen “based on each region’s natural endowments and comparative advantages”， the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC）， the state planning agency， said in December. “Every region must accurately comprehend the feature town’s intrinsically special characteristics.”

Most feature towns are on the outskirts of larger cities. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development approved 127 feature towns in late-2016 and a further 276 in August. By 2020， the agency wants to develop 1，000.

Beyond lingerie， other themes include pets， chocolate， drone aircraft， traditional Chinese opera， glassware， fund management and poetry. Some are intended as tourist attractions， while others such as Dongwangji are production centres.

Lei Congrui， general manager of Midnight Charm， was one of the first entrepreneurs in Dongwangji to produce lingerie. The industry now employs 20，000 people in the town and the surrounding county， accounting for 60 per cent of China’s total lingerie production， according to the local government.

“This place didn’t really have any other industries besides farming， and people here didn’t really know how to do business，” said Mr Lei， whose company booked revenues of Rmb12m （$1.9m） last year， mostly from export to the US. “I taught a lot of my competitors how to do it. Now some of them are doing better than me.”

Many feature towns are located in poor， rural regions left behind by China’s rapid industrialisation. Experts say that if properly executed， the idea makes sense. But they also warn that the concept could be mis-used to fuel property bubbles or other wasteful investment.

“We must absolutely prevent the urban real estate model from migrating to small towns， which causes costs to rise and financial risks from property finance to worsen，” said Li Tie， director-general of the China Center for Urban Development， a think-tank under NDRC. “That’s the common problem with feature towns.”

Zhong county， a poor region outside the megacity of Chongqing in western China， is seeking to attract Rmb5bn in investment for a feature town devoted to competitive e-sports video gaming. A purpose-built 6，000-seat stadium hosted a national competition last year.

But at least five other localities are also developing online gaming towns. And unlike Dongwangji’s lingerie industry， Zhong county does not already have an existing e-sports economy.

Town and county-level officials have approved the plan for Dongwangji to gain official recognition as an “emotional interest underwear” feature town and are now seeking approval from the Jiangsu provincial NDRC.

Tang Jingdong， the town’s Communist Party secretary， said the project would enable small manufacturers to cut costs through collective purchasing of raw materials such as fabric.

“Once it’s approved， we’ll have land support， fiscal support， and lots of bank funding will flow in，” said Mr Tang. “This is a way to help our local residents escape poverty.”

中國一條新鋪的鄉道上，有一家狗肉餐館，相隔幾戶是一家名叫“午夜魅力”的服裝廠，專門生產透視連衣裙和“性感”制服。

10年前，江蘇省東部的東王集鎮還主要以種稻為生。今天，這里是中國生產女性內衣的大本營。

當地政府為推進一項“圍繞特定產業發展、打造特色小（城）鎮”的政策，大力支持包括“午夜魅力”在內的600余家女性內衣廠商。

該政策貫徹了習近平主席對于“政府引導市場”的構想：既要龍頭企業國有化，更要引導個人投資優勢行業。

去年12月，國家規劃機關改革與發展委員會（簡稱“發改委”）提出：應“立足各地區要素稟賦和比較優勢”選擇特色產業，必須“準確把握特色小鎮內涵”。

特色小（城）鎮多地處大城市外圍。2016年下半年，國家住房和城鄉建設部公布了首批特色小（城）鎮名單，凡127個。2017年8月，第二批名單公布，凡276個。截至2020年，住建部計劃打造1000個特色小鎮。

除女性內衣外，特色主題還包括寵物、巧克力、無人機、傳統戲曲、玻璃制品、基金管理和詩歌。有些計劃打造為旅游名勝，而東王集等地則想建成生產中心。

“午夜魅力”的總經理雷叢瑞是東王集鎮最早從事女性內衣生產的企業家之一。據當地政府介紹，東王集鎮及周邊鄉鎮約有2萬從業者，產量占全國女性內衣的60%。

“過去這里（指東王集鎮）除了種植業，真的沒什么產業，人們也不怎么會做生意。”雷叢瑞說。他的公司去年年收入1200萬元人民幣（合190萬美元），其中多數來自出口到美國的訂單。“我教會很多競爭對手怎么做，現在他們有些人做得比我還好。”

很多特色小（城）鎮是在中國快速工業化進程中落后的貧困農村地區。專家表示，若政策執行得當，會收到成效。但他們也警告，“特色”名號可能會被誤用去加劇房產泡沫或者其他無用投資。

“我們絕不能讓城市房地產的模式延伸到小城鎮，否則小城鎮的購房成本也會上升，地產金融的風險會加劇，”發改委下屬智庫城市和小城鎮改革發展中心主任李鐵表示，“這是目前特色小鎮的普遍問題。”

特大城市重慶市下轄的貧困縣忠縣正大力招商引資，計劃引資50億元人民幣，建成電子競技視頻游戲特色小鎮。忠縣為舉辦全國電競大賽專門建造了一座可容納6000人的體育館，去年舉辦了大賽。

與東王集的女性內衣產業不同，忠縣并無現成的電競特色的經濟基礎，且全國還有至少5個地區也在打造在線游戲特色小（城）鎮。

東王集鎮希望獲得“情趣內衣特色小鎮”的國家認定，目前縣、鎮級政府均已批準，正在等候江蘇省發改委批復。

東王集鎮黨委書記湯景棟表示，一旦獲得國家認定，小型生產商也可參與集體采購面料等原材料，生產成本會因此降低。

“一旦批準，我們將得到國家土地和財政的支持，很多銀行的資金也會流入，”湯景棟說，“這是一條幫助我們老百姓脫貧的道路。”

（譯者單位：復旦大學）